Payback Ain't Enough (31 page)

“Everything’s fine. Let me call you later.” I ended the call before she could say anything and rushed back to the front porch to get Kyra’s bags. I tossed them inside the popped trunk and then jumped into the front seat. I cranked the engine and headed for my hotel.

I was dreaming I was riding in a car. But how did I get there? The last thing I remembered was standing in front of Rick.
My head was pounding. It felt more like it was about to burst through my eye sockets. I moaned, “My head.”

As soon as I did, the car stopped and jerked forward, damn near throwing me off the backseat. I wasn’t dreaming because the next thing I knew, the back door opened and this beautiful specimen of a man leaned over and asked if I was all right and if he should take me to the hospital.

“No. No more hospitals! I just need something for my head. It’s pounding.” Just as quickly as he was in the backseat asking if I was all right, he was back up in the front seat and pulling off.

We drove for a few minutes before the car stopped. I pressed both hands to my forehead and squeezed. Rick jumped out, and after several minutes he came back with some milk and a bottle of Tylenol for migraines. He helped me sit up.

“You can’t take these on an empty stomach.” He opened the carton of milk and held it to my mouth as if I was an invalid. Rick then opened the pill bottle, shook two out into my hand. I swallowed them, drank some more milk and lay back down. I badly wanted this headache to go away. It hurt to even think. The car started moving again and my thoughts were moving even faster. I was remembering people, places and things. My baby. My baby daughter, Aisha Kaeerah. Where was she? Rick. I remembered creeping around with him while I was still loving Marvin. Marvin? I was struggling to breathe, gasping for air. Gun. Mook pressed a gun up against my temple. I screamed at Marvin to give this nigga the money and to stop haggling with him. Then Marvin shot Junie and told me to put the car in reverse. I did and I crashed into the car behind me. That
was when Fish jumped out, shot Mook and then he shot me. The last thing I remembered was hearing my daughter saying, “Daddy, we can’t leave Mommy.” I started crying and then everything went black again.

Satisfied, I went into his bathroom to wash the blood off my hands and my blade. Pulling the ski mask off, I stuffed it inside my pocket. I then took off the hoodie, turned it inside out and put it back on.

After slipping out of this nigga’s room and bypassing the elevators, I entered the stairwell. I rushed down six flights to the second floor and decided to get on the elevator. Just as I anticipated, when the doors opened it was full. I stepped on and got off with the crowd and made my way out of the main lobby passing security.

Outside, I started walking down 168th Street, thinking how that last move was done purely on emotion. Never a good thing, but it sure had me on a high. I hopped a bus and rode for a few blocks, got off and flagged down a taxi. I had the driver drop me off down the street from my apartment.

Mission accomplished.

AFTER ENJOYING A LONG
hot shower, I lit a blunt and sat on the couch. I wanted to soak in and enjoy the peace and quiet around me, especially since I knew it was only the lull before the storm. The storm that I had created. I was attached to this apartment because it held so much of where I came from and who I was. That’s why I would never sell it. My
thoughts drifted back to when I first brought Tasha here. Bringing females to the spot was a no-no. But I knew she was the one. I’ll always remember getting out of the hospital and having Tasha nurse me back to health here. What used to be my bachelor pad, now had tampons under the sink and a bedroom with bunk beds and Transformer curtains. This apartment also held a lot of memories from my hustling days. Me and Kay would be grindin’ non-stop, running the streets for weeks at a time, and I would come home for only a day or two before we would be gone again. I couldn’t forget how glad I was to have snatched up Tasha right when we were on our way out of the game. I was ready to settle down with that special someone who’d make me feel as if all that grindin’ was well worth it. Tasha stepped up to the plate and made me feel just right.

I dozed off, but was awakened by somebody banging on the door. When the knocking got louder, I sat up and in walked Kay. We still had keys to each other’s cribs.

I knew he would be stopping by, which was one of the reasons I didn’t retire to the bedroom. I got up and went to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. Wide awake, I was now ready to face the music.

I went back into the living room and glanced at the clock. 3:33
A.M
. I sat down, relit the other half of the blunt, took a few tokes, and stood up and passed it to my main man.

“So, you heard,” I said to Kay as I sat down. I looked over at him and he looked as if he had been through war and back. His eyes were bloodshot and he wore the same clothes from earlier.

“Of course, I heard. I’m just leaving the muthafuckin’
precinct, a place where I said I was never stepping foot in again. I was one of the last niggas to leave the hospital room, so you know the police had to question me,” Kay paused. “You fucked up, dawg. You did that shit in a public place. You know they got cameras everywhere in a hospital.”

“Who did you mention it to?” I was still elated with my deed and didn’t care about some damn hospital cameras.

“You know me better than anybody. Who the fuck you think I mentioned it to? At the station I only answered what Harry told me to answer. But you know I had to tell Angel bits and—”

“Fuck, nigga! Why did you have to say shit to her? You know she gonna tell Tasha. Tasha needed to hear this shit from me first.” Hearing that took some of the fun out of what I had done.

“Nigga, I told her not to tell anybody, especially Tasha. And what the fuck do you mean ‘why did I have to say shit to her?’ Who do you think answered the door when the police came by? Who do you think called the lawyer? You may think you did, but you ain’t pull the perfect crime, nigga. Not this time. You may have fucked yourself, and my hands are tied.”

I thought about what he said and finally realized he was right. So I said, “For what it’s worth, I apologize for putting you in this situation. I owe you for this one.”

“You owe me more than an apology!” Kay barked. “You really got me in a fucked up situation. Anybody else, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking,” my partner-in-crime said as we locked gazes. They don’t make niggas like Kay anymore. Here I done killed his brother, but because of our history,
the circumstances, and him respecting the game, we didn’t have to go to war.

“So, what’s everybody saying? What’s Mama Santos saying? You and her were the only ones stopping me from totally wildin’.”

Kay chuckled, “Man, stabbing my brother in the throat wasn’t wildin’? Like I said, I’m trying to keep it quiet. But there was a blurb over the local news. I didn’t tell Kendrick, and Angel and my moms is up at the hospital now. He’s in critical condition. Hell, the lawyer said that’s the only reason they let me go. But if he dies, Trae, you gonna have a hard time getting out of this one. You need to get your attorney on this ASAP. Harry is reppin’ me so you can’t use him.”

Time felt like it stopped. What the fuck did he mean in critical condition? I was there when that pussy took his last breath. How the fuck can a nigga survive stabs to the throat? Hell, I know I cut the jugular vein. Critical condition? That’s impossible.

“Trae! Trae! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Kay yelled. “Yo, you looked like you spaced out.”

I leaned back into the sofa and shut my eyes. I was not gonna let this nigga tear my family to shreds.

Kay laughed again, “Oh, I know what your problem is. You thought you deaded him, didn’t you? The higher power obviously ain’t done with neither one of you niggas yet.” My eyes popped open just as Kay stood up. “Not yet. But we’ll see what happens. The next six hours the doctors say are the most crucial.” His cell rang; he glanced at it. “This is Angel now. I’m outta here.”